nobbs



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet l.

J. J. NOBBS. SHIELD FOR TUNNELING.

No. 499,566. PatentedJune 13, 1893.

Fig. 2.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. J. NOBBS. SHIELD FOR TUNNELING.

No. 499,566. Patented June 13, 189

(No Model.) I 4-Sheet'sSheet 3.

J. J. NOBB S.

SHIELD FOR TUNNELINGQ I No. 499,566. I Patented June 13, 1893. 5.

. a 12g a i Z97 a (No Model.) V 4'shets sheet 4. J. J. NOBBS. SHIELD FORTUNNELING.

No. 499,566. Patented June 13, 1993.

I tially of a series of steel bars or piles which UNITED ST TES PATENTOFFICE.

JAMES JOHN NOBBS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SHIELD FOR TUNNELING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,566, dated June 13,1893.

Application filed Mil-I011 1893- Serial No. 468,470. (No model.)Patented in England May 12,1890,N0.7.374, and in France April 2,ISQL'NO. 212,5ZQ.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES JOHN NOBBS, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at London, England, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Shields for Use in Tunneling, (for which I have obtainedpatents in Great Britain, No. 7,374, dated May 12, 1890, and in France,No. 212,520, dated April 2, 1891,) of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to shields for use in tunneling all kinds ofstrata, and has for its object to provide a shield which can be morereadily applied and which affords greater safety than shields asheretofore constructed.

According to my invention the shield, instead of being arranged to bemoved forward bodily as the driving of the tunnel proceeds, is adaptedto be moved forward in sections, and for this purpose the shieldconsists essenare fitted to overlap each other at the edges so as toform a kind of lagging, and which are supported internally bya sectionalrib or ribs or by frames closed at one end and provided with means foraffording access to the different parts of the strata to be tunneled.The said bars or piles are adapted to be driven forward independently ofeach other and, in order to facilitate the operation, each of them isprovided with a lug or stud against which the head of a hydraulic ram orof an ordinary jack may be caused to operate.

To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the samewith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a rearview of the shield constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal section on the line a; 00, Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a verticallongitudinal section on the line 1 3 Fig. 1. Fig. at represents afrontview of the various sections of the rib or frame of the shield slightlyseparated; and Figs. 5 and 6 are views, drawn-to a larger scale than thefigures hereinbefore described, of one of the piles. Fig. 7 is asectional view on the line 2 2, Fig. 6, and drawn to a larger scale thanthe said Figs. 5 and 6: Fig.8 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating amodification of my invention; and Fig. 9 is a longitudinal verticalcentral section of the same.

a, a indicate the piles of my improved shield, the edges of which arerabbeted or grooved, as indicated most clearly in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 sothat they will rest one upon the other, and each of which, on the underside is provided with a dovetailed groove 0. and with a series of slotsa a part of the length of each of which is also of a dovetail shape toreceive the dovetailed shank of a stud a for a purpose hereinafterdescribed; the forward end of each pile is also sharpened or beveled, asindicated in Figs. 5 and 6, to enable it to be pushed through thestrata.

b, c, d, c,fand g are the sections of the rib upon which the said pilesare supported, which sections form parts of frames 1), 0, cl, e',f and grespectively, the said frames be ing of such shapes (for instance, asshown most clearly in Fig. 4) that, when fitted together, as shown inFig. 1, they will bein contact with one another, and which are of suchwidth that the interior of each frame forms a chamberin which theworkman can operate. The front ends of these frames are closed by platesh, h and doors h, h, and in the said plates and doors are formed holes2', 2 closed by plugs 2", 1''. On the sections are keys h h which engagethe grooves a, of the piles a, a.

j,j are openings in the doors h, h of the frames Z), e which openingsare closed by sliding doorsj',j.

I sometimes apply similar openings in the doors of the other frames.

Between the frames g, c and the frame I), and between the frames f d andthe frame 6' are plates 70, which can be operated in the mannerhereinafter described, the said plates 1c, 7r; being rabbeted at theiredges so as to more or less support one another.

The operation of the apparatus hereinbefore described is as follows:Assume the same to have been fixed in position, as shown in Fig. 2, sothat the front of the shield is in close proximity to the material to beremoved; now the piles in contact with, say, the sections 17, g, o arepushed forward by means of hydraulic jacks acting against the studs aany obstructions, such as stones, to the forward movement of the pilesbeing pushed out of the way by means of bars inserted through the holes'i or j. The doors h, h of the frames 1), g, c are then opened so thatthe material in front of the same can be removed to the desired extent.The said frames are then pushed forward and the same oper ation isrepeated for the lower half of the shield, that is to say, the piles aredriven forward and the material then removed from the front of the lowersections to allow the same to be moved forward. These operations arerepeated from time to time as the work proceeds. WVhen working in softtreacherous ground I push forward the plates 70, it before opening thedoors h, 7t so that the material in front of the frames g, candf, d isconfined; and in cases where it would be dangerous to open the saiddoors, I remove the material through the openings j,j to a sufficientextent to render the opening of the door safe. To enable the plates 7c,k to be pushed forward they are provided with slots and studs similarlyto the piles a, a. The lower and upper cross-beams b and e of theframes 1) and 6' respectively and the floor of the frame bare maderemovable so that, if required, more room is obtained for operating inthe said frames. As the cutting of the tunnel proceeds brickwork isapplied, as indicated; the space around the brickwork, formerly occupiedby the piles a, abeing filled with grouting in a well known manner. Itwill be obvious that this order of procedure, as regards the movement ofthe various parts of the apparatus may be varied according tocircumstances. When working in safe ground I sometimes support the pilesupon a rib or ribs, the sections of which or each of which are boltedtogether, so that the said rib or ribs maybe moved forward bodily, or ifit is only necessary to support the roof I dispense with the side andbottom sections, and mount the upper section upon a frame or carriage Z,as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, which carriage is adapted to run upon amovable platform m made in sections, the section of the said platformover which the frame last passed being taken to the front of theapparatus so that the frame, when moved forward, will again run onto it.

In the apparatus first described and also in the modification thereofsuitable rollers are provided, for instance, as indicated in dottedlines by the letters 12, n for reducing, as much as possible, thefriction between the various frames while being moved.

The chief advantages of my invention, in addition to that of beingenabled to move forward the parts of the shield independently,are thatno timber is required to support the piles, and that the ribs or framescarrying the said piles can be advanced without the necessity oftemporarily supporting the said piles.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declarethat I make no separate claim to the use of piles (sometimes calledneedles) as I am aware that such piles are well known and have been inuse for many years, but

What I claim is-- 1. In combination the shield composed of a pluralityof sections movable independently of each other, doors carried by saidsections, and piles mounted upon the periphery of the shield,substantially as described.

2. In combination with the circular shield composed of a series ofindependently movable sections provided with doors, a series of pilesmounted upon the periphery of the shield, with tongues or projectionscarried by the shield engaging corresponding longitudinal grooves in thepiles, substantially as described.

3. In combination the circular shield composed of a series ofindependently movable sections provided with doors, movable plateslocated between the sections, and independently movable piles mountedupon the periphery of the shield and having tongued and groovedconnection therewith, substantially as described.

4. In combination the circular shield composed of a series ofindependently movable I JAMES JOHN NOBBS.

Witnesses:

J OSEPH ROWLINSON, JEREMIAH WATSON.

